Massage device



June 7, 1949. M, RQLLMAN 2,472,385

MASSAGE DEVICE Filed July 18, 1946 F76: 5 I INVENTOR.

M/OHAE L A. ROLL MAN Patented June 7, 1949 NITED STATES ATENT OFFICE 3Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in a massage device and moreparticularly to that type utilizing a massage roller.

It is an object of the invention to provide a hollow roller formed ofmaterial having high thermal conductivity and having an opening at oneend, said roller being pivotally secured to a handle and the opening ofthe roller, during the operation thereof, being sealed by a closurewhich engages said open end in liquid tight relationship, whereby saidroller may be filled or partially filled with a coolant and beneficiallyused as a massage device. Said coolant is preferably formed ofpredetermined amounts of solute and solvent.

It is another object of the invention to compensate for the off balanceeffect of the closure by pivotally mounting the roller in a bail andconnecting a handle to said bail at a position thereon nearer theclosure end of the roller than the other end thereof.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a tubular measuringcontainer on the closure, said container readily fitting within theopenin of the roller and having a capacity corresponding to thepredetermined amount of solvent, whereby said container will not presentany objectionable obstruction when the roller is in use and, as acorollary to this object of the invention, it is a further object toprovide the 15 measuring container with a cross sectional contourclosely conforming to that of the opening in said roller, whereby only asmall space remains between said opening in the roller and the externalsurface of the measuring container requiring sealing by the closure.

It is still another object of the invention to provide a handle havingan annular recess affording a shoulder near the end connected to theroller, thereby providing means by which the user may more firmly engagethe handle by placing his thumb against said shoulder.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide on the handle ataper extending outward away from the roller, the free end of the handlebeing concaved and defined by a rim which provides a base of substantialsize upon which to stand the device as when not in use. Additionally,said concavity is reflective to serve as an enlarging mirror.

Other objects of the invention as well as details of the foregoingobjectsand details of the invention are set forth in the followingspecification and illustrated in the accompanying drawing comprising apart of this application.

In the drawing,

Fig. 1 is a vertical elevation of the massage device, certain elementsof said device being partially broken away to better disclose certaindetails of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary vertical end elevation of the device shown inFig. 1 as viewed from the left hand end thereof.

Fig. 3 is a vertical end elevation, partly broken away, of the rollerand bail elements of the massage device as viewed from the right handend of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view of the closure and tubular measuringcontainer comprising a part of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a sectional side elevation of another embodiment of a cap forthe end of the handle.

The present invention was devised to provide a massage device having ahollow roller preferably formed of aluminum or aluminum allot or someother suitable material having a high degree of thermal conductivity,said roller being constructed to contain a liquid coolant such as aheat-absorbing solution of water and certain salts which are well knownfor this purpose and comprise no part of the present invention.

Certain previously devised massage rollers have been of such nature thata considerable amount of disassembling of components was required beforea fluid coolant could be inserted in or removed from the interior of theroller. Other devices presented difficulties with regard to adequatelysealing the fluid coolant within the interior of the roller.

These afore-mentioned difficulties and others which have been present insaid previously devised rollers have been overcome by certain featuresof construction incorporated in the massage device comprising thepresent invention, details of which are explained hereinafter.

Referring to the drawing, a hollow cylindrical roller Iii is restrictedor reduced in diameter at its opposite ends as illustrated in Fig.1, oneend it? of said roller being permanently closed and the other end ofsaid roller being provided with an opening It which is defined by asubstantially cylindrical portion of the roller and is externallythreaded on at least a portion of the exterior surface of saidcylindrical portion. A cup-shaped closure It provided with internalthreads is constructed to be threaded onto said threads of the reducedend of the roller. Part of the exterior of the side walls of said cap ispreferably serrated as shown at 1B for purposes of. facilitating themanipulation of the closure, while the contour of the outer surface ofthe so-called bottom of the cap is convex to provide an additionalmassaging surface l9.

A substantially cylindrical tubular measuring erably only slightlysmaller in diameter than the opening in the end of the roller l0,whereby only a small space 28 exists between the exterior surface of themeasuring container and the opening in said end of the roller Ill whenthe closure l6 and measuring container 26 are mounted in their operativeposition illustrated in Fig. 1. Said small space 28 is all that has tobe sealed by the closure l6. While the measurin container has beenstated to be cylindrical, it is to be understood that the crosssectional contour thereof, as well as that of opening It in the roller,may be varied from circular but said cross sectional contours shouldpreferably be symmetrical and conform relatively closely to each otherin size.

A disc-like gasket or washer 30 of any suitable material such as rubberis mounted within the cup-like closure l6 between the base thereof andthe base of measuring container 2!), said gasket engaging the annularouter surface of the open end of roller H! to insure that no leakage offluid from Within the roller will take place during use.

The closed end of the roller i is provided with a pintle 32 which isfreely and rotatably received within a bearing aperture 554 formed inone leg of a bail 36 and the other leg of said bail is provided with abearing 38 of larger diameter which freely and rotatably receives therestricted end of the roller 10 within which the opening M is provided.It will thus be seen that the roller I0 is rotatably supported at itsopposite ends by the bail 36. The annular tapered shoulder 40, adjacentthe open end M of the roller, cooperates with the rim of the closure [6to properly position the leg of the bail containin the bearing 38 insuch a manner that only a limited amount of play in a direction parallelto the axis of the roller will exist between said ball and roller.

The weight of the closure is sufficient to render the end of the rollerto which it is secured heavier than the other end thereof and producesan oil-balance effect when the roller is held midway of its length. Tocompensate for the additional weight of the closure at said end of theroller, the handle 42 is detachably secured to the bail 36 by means of athreaded stud 44 permanently secured to the bail in a predeterminedposition nearer the opening in the end of the roller l0 than the closedend of said roller. Thus. when the roller is held by the handle 42, theroller will not have a tendency to turn about the axis of the handle.

The handle 42 may be formed of any suitable material but it is preferredto form the same of a synthetic resinous plastic material which may beeither crystal clear or colored and the interior of the handle isprovided with a cavity 46 within which may be stored solute pellets 48or powder or capsules of a salt or salts which, when added to'water orother suitable solvent, forms the coolant: solution. The end of thehandle to which the .threaded stud 44 is secured is provided with aninternally threaded opening for purposes of readily engaging the threadsof the stud 44. The

.4 opposite end of the handle 42 is provided with a readily removablethreaded cap 50 for purposes of retaining the pellets 48 within thehandle.

Handle 42 is preferably tapered outward toward its free end, and theopposite end is provided with an annular recess 52 to afford an annularshoulder which may be engaged by the thumb of the user to facilitateholding the massage device in a firm manner,

Cap 50 is shaped so as to be concave on the outer surface of its end,whereby the free end of the handle may be said to terminate in aconcaved end when the cap 50 is attached thereto. Said concaved end, inview of the outward tapering of the handle, is defined by a rimaffording a base of substantial size upon which said device may be stoodas when not in use. Additionally, as another feature of importance, saidconcave surface is smoothly finished so as to be reflective, thusserving as an enlarging mirror to assist during the use of the device indetecting wrinkles and areas requiring massage treatment.

As shown in Fig. l, a reflective end may be obtained by a separatemirror member 56 inserted within the rim of cap 50, or, as shown in Fig.5, the cap is an integral member and the concaved end 58 is madereflective in any suitable manner such as by metalizing. Preferably ca50 is also formed from resinous material but may be of siutable metal.

The capacity of the measuring container is such that when apredetermined number of pellets 48 are added to a container full ofwater, a solution of the proper strength will be formed.

The construction of the roller, closure, and measuring container is suchthat the container 20 may be filled with water as shown in Fig, 4, thecorrect number of pellets or capsules may be introduced into the rollerI!) through the open end l4 thereof, and the measuring container '20 maybe introduced into the roller through the open end thereof while saidcontainer is held in vertical, upright position. Following this, theclosure is is tightly screwed onto the threaded open end of the rollerfor purposes of Sealing the water and pellets within the container.After a short interval of time and preferably with agitation of theroller, the pellets dissolve within the water and the solutioncomprising the coolant is formed. Said roller with the coolant containedtherein, when applied to the surface of any desired portion of theanatomy of a person, will produce a cooling effect on said portion ofthe anatomy; and it is possible to make the coolant of such strengththat said cooling effect will continue for a reasonable period of timesuch as between ten and fifteen minutes,

During the application of the device to the anatomy, the roller may bereadily rotated while passing over the surface to be cooled andmassaged, and no leakage of the fluid from the interior of the roller ispossible in view of the close conformity of the measuring container tothe open end of the roller and the gasket within the closure.

At the conclusion of the cooling treatment, the closure l6 may bereadily removed from the open end of the roller Hi and the coolant maybe poured therefrom with no disassembly of the device other than theremoval of the closure 5 being required- The handle 42' may also bereadily removed from the bail 36 for purposes of compactly packaging orstoring the massage device when notinuse.

The cup-shaped closure or cap t6 may also be formed of a materialsimilar to the roller l0, both of these items thus having high thermalconductivity. The outer surface ill of the closed end of closure IE willthus also be afiected by the temperature of the coolant within theroller and said end of the closure may thus be also utilized formassaging purposes, especially for use on surfaces difficult to reachfor massaging by the roller ID.

The massage device comprising the present invention is light in weight,balanced, leakproof, attractive in appearance and produces beneficialefiects when applied to the anatomy.

While the invention has been illustrated and described in its severalpreferred. embodiments and has included certain details, it should beunderstood that the invention is not to be limited to the precisedetails herein illustrated and described, since the same may be carriedout in other ways, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

WhatIclaim is:

1. A massage device comprising in combination a hollow rollerterminating at one end in a restricted cylindrical portion externallythreaded and comprising an opening in said roller, said roller beingsuitable to contain a coolant solution formed from predetermined amountsof solute and solvent, a handle, means connected to said handle and alsopivotally connected to the roller, a cup-shaped closure internallythreaded on its side walls, whereby said closure may be detachablysecured in fluid tight engagement over said cylindrical portion, and anelongated cup-shaped measuring container secured to the inner portion ofsaid closure and having a smaller diameter than said cylindricalportion, whereby said container may be disposed within said roller whensaid closure is secured in operative position over said cylindricalportion, said container having a capacity corresponding to thepredetermined amount of solvent of said solution.

2. A massage device comprising in combination a hollow roller having anopening in one end and arranged to contain a coolant solution formedfrom predetermined amounts of solute and solvent, a handle, meansconnected to said handle and also pivotally connected to the rolleradjacent the opposite ends of said roller, a cupshaped closure, a gasketextending across the interior bottom of said closure, means on saidclosure and roller by which said closure may be detachably secured influid tight engagement over said opening, an elongated cup-shapedmeasuring container having a capacity corresponding to the predeterminedamount of solvent of said solution and provided with a bottom, thecross-sectional area of said container being smaller than that of saidopening in said roller, and securing means extending from the closurethrough said gasket and into the bottom of said container to hold themunitarily together, said container being disposed within said rollerwhen said closure is secured in operative position over said opening.

3. A massage device comprising in combination a hollow roller having anopening at one end, a closure normally detachably connected to saidroller over said opening, said closure rendering said roller heavier atits open end than the other and producing an ofi-balance effect, meanspivotally connected to said roller, and a handle connected to said meansat a predetermined position axially of said roller which is nearer saidopen end of said roller than said other end to compensate for theoff-balance efiect produced by said closure.

MICHAEL A. ROILMAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 444,597 Lichtenstadt Jan. 13,1891 810,885 Saighman Jan. 23, 1906 1,270,635 Ljungstrom June 25, 1918

